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She caught sight of Michael in the mirror on the visor. He studied a camera. “Do you like to take pictures, too?”
The boy looked up, lowering the camera. “I’ve never used a camera like this. My iPhone works pretty good.”
Lucas nodded. “It’s crazy how good some of those phones can be, but it’s not the sort you build a career with. The one you’re holding is the first good camera I ever bought. A Canon EOS 1V, loaded with Fugi Velvia film that will still take damn good pictures. I still use it sometimes because I like the feel of the click, the sound of the camera rewinding and waiting on the images in the darkroom. Nothing wrong with a little old school photography.”
“How did you learn?” Addy asked.
“By doing. I dropped out of law school when, well, I decided it wasn’t something I wanted to do—more like an expectation. Suddenly my world shifted and I didn’t know what I wanted. I packed up my Chevy Blazer and headed west where I figured adventure lay. As I drove through a countryside so different than the one I knew, I felt a tug. I’d always loved drawing as a kid, and I used my grandmother’s Polaroid one summer when we rented a house on the lake. But it wasn’t some divine revelation out of the blue.”
“So you just decided to become a photographer?”
“No, I became a waiter. In Phoenix.”
Addy smiled. “That’s a way different career choice than being an attorney.”
“Wasn’t a waiter for long. I saved up and took a photography class at a local community college because someone told me I could get a gig taking school photos for some company.”
“We just had some weird guy take our spring pictures last week. I forgot to tell you and I wore my Saints T-shirt with the hole on the sleeve. Mrs. Creech made a face when she saw me,” Chris said, lowering his iPad.
“Hey, you were supposed to leave that at home.” Lucas stretched an arm back and opened his palm. “Give it.”
“Come on, Uncle Lucas. It’s boring in the car.”
“Count license plates,” he said, palm up. Emphatically up.
“I don’t even know what that is,” Chris complained, laying the device in Lucas’s hand. “And Charlotte is picking her nose again.”
Addy turned around and tugged Charlotte’s elbow down. The little girl frowned but thankfully stopped picking her nose. Addy turned back to Lucas. “So how did you end up in Texas?”
“After I got bit by the photography bug, I moved to San Francisco and got into the San Francisco Art Institute. Suddenly this strange world I never imagined opened for me, and for the first time ever I knew I was doing what I was supposed to do—climbing mountains, fording streams, and lying on my stomach in the desert capturing the world in its splendor.”
“Do you make a lot of money taking pictures?” Michael asked, dubious expression reflecting in her mirror.
“Enough to live on. Being successful in photography is just like any other career. I work hard and pray for luck. My ship came in when a couple of New York socialites and their decorators found my stuff. Then I sold to several celebrities.”
“Like who?”
Lucas laughed. “People you listen to on your iPhone.”
“We have one of your pictures,” Chris said, interrupting. “But it’s of a waterfall and red dirt. You could have at least stuck a dog in there or something.”
Addy giggled and decided it felt pretty good. She hadn’t used that particular response in a while. Maybe her giggler was rusty. “Wait a sec, we’re in River Ridge.”
“You know your geography,” Lucas teased, maneuvering down Jefferson Highway toward Kenner.
Everyone fell silent for the next several miles. Soon Lucas maneuvered the truck into the quaint Rivertown district, tucked in between the city of Kenner and the Mississippi River.
“Why are we here?” Michael asked his face squashed into disapproval.
“This area opened when your dad and I were kids. They had some cool museums, including a train museum, I think.
Chris and Michael groaned.
“We’re not four years old, Uncle Lucas,” Chris said, slapping a hand against his forehead.
“Well, Charlotte nearly is and there is a story time with puppets.” Lucas parked the car near the quaint district and turned to Addy with an alarmed look.
That’s when she realized he had no clue what kids liked to do, but the fact he tried so hard warmed her heart. She gave him an encouraging smile and looked over her seat at the kids in the back. “My nephew said there’s a cool science museum here… something about the Hubble and a space station? And there’s a planetarium and an IMAX movie theater. Have you been in one of those?”
